


You're Still Our Brothers, And We Will Fight For You

by Your_Resident_Witch



Series: SBI bb!!! [2]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Are the reasons for giving him wings completely self indulgent? Yes, Canon-Typical Violence, Everyone Has Trauma, Family Dynamics, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I don't know if I'll even finish this, I got his idea from when Wil was wondering if Phil was proud of him, I'm just writing this as I go, No Beta We Die Like L'Manbergians, OOC characters, Phil has wings, Phil is their dad, Sorry Not Sorry, Swearing, Techno Wilbur and Tommy are brothers, Temporary Character Death, Wil actually finds the button and blows up Manberg after Tubbo is killed, Wingfic, and then Phil said on his stream that Wilbur had gone off the edge, do i care? no, irregular updates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:28:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27084880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Your_Resident_Witch/pseuds/Your_Resident_Witch
Summary: Phil’s never been one to believe in fate or destiny or anything like that. To him, everything is affected by something else, even if it’s completely out of your control. Domino effects are always happening, the final product always has something that leads up to it.Sometimes, though, Phil wishes he believed in fate or destiny, because maybe, just maybe, he’d have an easier time believing the rushed, tear-stained letter that’s just been sent to him.ORPhil gets a letter from Tommy saying that Wilbur has gone insane and asking him to come and help.This is my first story I've ever posted so sorry if this summary is bad.Title from Seize The Day from Newsies
Relationships: Dave | Technoblade & Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Niki | Nihachu & Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, None, Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, TommyInnit & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), at least no romantic ones
Series: SBI bb!!! [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2007400
Comments: 196
Kudos: 1349





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I'm Maggie, and this is my first ever fic! I'm really excited to post it, and please if you have any thoughts don't hesitate to comment, I'd love to hear your feedback! And if you have any questions or something doesn't make sense, or I need to add more tags or anything like that, please let me know!
> 
> Some context for how the world in this fic works: Respawns exist, but you can only respawn once every 24 hours. So if you die once, and then someone kills you within the next day, you’re dead forever.  
> You have to reset your spawnpoint every day. Otherwise, it resets and sends you to the sort of “home” spawnpoint of whatever region/territory/etc. you’re in.  
> When you respawn, whatever the injury is that killed you is immediately healed. Nothing else is though. So if you have a cut on your finger when you’re stabbed, the stab wound closes, but the cut doesn’t.  
> Servers and some single-player worlds are all in the same world, they're in their own territories.

Phil’s never been one to believe in fate or destiny or anything like that. To him, everything is affected by something else, even if it’s completely out of your control. Domino effects are always happening, the final product always has something that leads up to it.

Sometimes, though, Phil wishes he believed in fate or destiny, because maybe, just maybe, he’d have an easier time believing the rushed, tear-stained letter that’s just been sent to him.

Dear Dad,

I hope you’re doing well. I’m not if I’m being perfectly honest.

Wil’s gone insane. He blew up Manberg. He killed most of us in the explosion, including himself. It’s a damn good thing everyone had respawn points set.

Techno killed Tubbo, too. Shot him with a crossbow, straight through the chest. I was so worried he wouldn’t respawn, or that he’d end up in the wilderness somewhere and it wouldn’t matter if he had respawned.

Please come as soon as you can. I don’t know what to do.

I need you dad. Please

Love,  
Tommy

Phil takes a shaky breath. Techno killing someone? That’s a monthly experience. That’s nothing new. But him killing a kid? A 16-year-old? And when, on top of all that, it was obviously unknown if he would respawn? That doesn’t sound like Techno. The Techno Phil knew had more honor than that.

And Wilbur. Oh, Gods Wilbur.

Tommy said “us” in his letter. He said, “He killed most of us in the explosion.”

The Wilbur Phil knew would never dream of hitting too hard while sparing his brothers. The Wilbur he knew would never come anywhere close to killing them.

Could he have done something? Gotten involved in the war for L’Manberg? Written more? Visited more after the war was over? Done something, anything to keep his son from going down this path?

Wilbur had sent him a letter at the beginning of the war for L’Manberg, telling him and Techno what was going on, and that they would be okay, and to not worry too much.

Wilbur had sent him a letter the day the peace treaty was signed between L’Manberg and the DreamSMP that stopped the fighting, saying that he and Techno should come and visit and see the new nation he and Tommy, and their new friends were building.

The last letter Phil had gotten from Wilbur was about the election. Wilbur was nervous. But he knew what he was doing was right, if not a bit arrogant. And Phil respected him for it. Only a few months into governing his new nation, and already willing to possibly give up that power.

A few days passed after receiving that letter, and Techno was leaving to help Wilbur and Tommy after they were banished by Schlatt.

What had changed? What had turned that happy, music-loving man ready to fight for his family’s lives and willing to build a country from the ground up, simply to make them feel safe, into someone willing to blow them up to, what? Make a statement? Prove something?

Phil shakes his head as if to clear it, grabs a piece of paper and a quill, and writes back.

Dear Tommy,

Stay strong. I’ll be there by dawn tomorrow.

Make sure Techno and Wil can’t do any more damage. It may be hard, but I don’t want to risk coming and finding you and your friends more hurt than you obviously already are.

Don’t worry about clean up efforts, if anyone’s started to mention that yet. Just tend to your wounded, and stick together as best you can with people who you trust.

I swear I’ll be there as soon as I can.

I love you, son  
Dad

Phil quickly seals the letter and walks over to place it in the chest he and his sons use to send letters quickly. It’s similar to an ender chest, but it’s linked to the four of them, so they can send letters, objects, even a 7-year-old Tommy, in one (slightly terrifying) case, to each other.

He doesn’t wait for a response after placing the letter inside, instead opting to begin packing things into his messengers bag. Some food, water, as many bandage rolls, ointments, and potions as he can carry, his bow, a quiver of arrows, and his netherite sword.

The fact that he has to bring weapons to see his sons makes him sick to his stomach. He doesn’t want to fight them. He doesn’t know if he’d be able to.

Still, he keeps the weapons close as he hears the low, rumbling sound from the chest that makes it clear Tommy’s responded. He opens the chest and takes out the piece of paper, only two words scrawled on it

Please Hurry

And with that, Phil steps outside, puts on his signature bucket hat, and spreads his wings, soaring through the night sky in a matter of seconds, praying he can get to the Dream SMP before any more damage is done.


	2. Chapter 2

The sun has barely started to rise when Phil arrives, his wings aching from the nonstop flying. He lands in the center of the carnage. There are a few small fires still burning from the explosion, but they look like they’ve been contained, for the most part. They’d probably stop burning within the hour.

As he takes in the scene around him, processing the fact that Wilbur, his son, caused this, there’s a yell to his left, and suddenly, in a blur of blond hair and bloodstains, Tommy nearly tackles him to the ground in a hug.

Neither of them say a word as they hold each other, Tommy hunching over slightly to hug his father properly. Phil rubs soothing circles into Tommy’s back and holds onto his youngest son like his life depends on it.

After another couple minutes, Tommy lets go, and reluctantly so does Phil.

And for the first time in 11 months, Phil gets a good look at his son. And Gods, he wants to throw up.

He’s got bruises on seemingly every inch of his body. He has a split lip and his nose looks broken. His shirt is torn and bloody, revealing bandages wrapped around his stomach, and he has a sling for his right arm. He looks thinner than Phil's ever seen him, his clothes hanging slightly off of him. He doesn’t look like he should be able to stand.

That’s not all though. He has scars. So, so many scars. He had had a few when Phil last saw him. One on his left temple from when he and Techno sparred too hard, one on his left ring finger when he accidentally cut himself while Phil tried to teach him to cook, all small, and nothing too noticeable.

Now, he has too many to count. There are scars littering his arms and face, and Phil assumes there are plenty of others covered by his clothes. The most notable scar, though, is the thin, pale one across Tommy's throat.

Phil feels pure, unbridled rage bubble up in his chest, and his feathers ruffle. He’ll kill whoever created that scar.

Tommy took a shaky breath, bringing Phil out of his thoughts. “Thank you. For coming, I mean. I know you probably have a lot going on at home but-”

“Tommy,” Phil cuts him off, not even allowing the boy a chance to put himself down, “After everything that’s happened here? Nothing at home could be more important.” He takes a breath, trying to ignore the stench of sulfur and burned flesh. “You’re my son, you’re more important than any building project or harvest season ever will be.”

Tommy nods, and smiles a bit, before glancing behind himself. “We should probably go meet up with everyone else. They’ll get worried about me if I take too long. I already have.” He chuckles humorlessly. “I barely convinced Niki I’d be okay to go without someone looking after me.”

Phil smiles, happy someone’s been looking after Tommy while he hasn’t been able to. “How long have you been out here?" Phil raises an eyebrow as Tommy stares at the ground.

Tommy mumbles something indecipherable to Phil.

"What was that?"

"2 hours."

Phil hardly holds back a surprised laugh, trying to ignore the swirl of concern at the thought of his son being out in the cold, obviously injured, for 2 hours. As much as he wants to ask Tommy why, he knows that the last thing the boy probably needs right now is a lecture.

"Well, let’s go then. Where are you all staying?” Phil asks as they start walking, wrapping a wing around Tommy's shoulders and letting the boy set their pace.

“Tubbo’s bunker. Schlatt, George, and Quackity are all holed up in the Whitehouse, and they’re refusing to help anyone. And we couldn’t take the injured people to Pogtopia, since that’s where Techno and Will are, plus it's miles away into the woods. So the bunker was the next best bet.” Tommy rattles off the information, and Phil nods.

“Do you have enough of everything? Food, medicine, stuff like that?”

Tommy smirks a bit. “Niki’s a baker, and Tubbo’s an awesome cook, so they’ve been making do with what we have. Tubbo also set up a little farm for stuff to make potions with, before all of this. It's not much, but it's better than nothing.” Phil nods again, taking in the information as they come to a lake, a blackstone fountain at its center. Tommy stops right at the edge.

“See the little bit of light there?” Tommy points at a small patch of barely visible light under the water and looks at Phil.

“Don’t tell me I’m gonna get wet.”

“Fine. I won’t tell you anything then.” Tommy says with a mischievous smile as he sits on the edge of the lake before lowering himself into the water carefully and sinking under the surface. After a few moments, he disappears completely into the murky water.

God damn it.

Phil sighs and takes a deep breath before mimicking Tommy’s movements, lowering himself into the water and swimming down, until eventually, he falls flat on his face on solid ground, his now soaked wings laying heavily on his back.

He hears Tommy start cackling, and turns around to lay on his stomach, staring up at the stone and dirt ceiling.

“Stop laughing at me.”

“But it’s funny! You fell on your face!” Tommy can barely speak through his laughter.

Phil just sighs and extends an arm in the direction of Tommy’s voice. He doesn’t even have to ask before Tommy is helping pull him upwards.

Phil looks at his surroundings. The walls and ceiling are stone and dirt but the floors are lined with crimson wood planks and cobblestone stairs, going so far down he can’t see where it ends. It must’ve taken ages to collect the materials and hollow out.

Phil’s about to ask where the tunnel leads when he hears a yell from down the stairs, moments before a boy in a torn and bloodied suit comes running up towards them.

“Tommy! Tommy oh my God where the hell were you? You were gone for hours, you said you’d be back with medicine in-” The boy stops in his tracks as he sees Phil, and his hand whips to his side, where an iron sword is sitting on his hip.

“Tommy, who’s this?” The boy glances from Tommy to Phil, before settling on Tommy again.

“He’s my dad, Tubbo. He’s here to help, I swear.” Tommy speaks calmly, raising a hand towards the boy- Tubbo, apparently.

The boy Techno shot. According to Tommy's past letters, his son's best friend.

“I only came at Tommy’s request. He said you all needed help, and considering two of my sons were the people to cause this-” Phil takes a breath, trying to ignore the pain in his chest as he says it, “I want to help however I can. I have some food and some medical supplies in my bag.”

At the mention of medicine, Tubbo’s posture relaxes. He starts walking up towards them and pulls Tommy into a hug.

“Don’t fuckin’ scare me like that again man. You had everyone worried out of their minds.”

Tommy nods and pulls away from the hug with a small smile. “Sorry, Big Man, I just wanted to see my dad.”

At the mention of him, Tubbo looks over to stare at Phil. “You said you have medicine?”

“Yep,” Phil takes off his- now wet- bag and hands it to the boy, who opens it and starts rifling through the contents. After he seems satisfied, he closes the bag, slings it over his shoulder, and grabs Tommy’s hand before they start walking down the stairs, Phil follows a few feet behind.

As they go deeper and deeper into the tunnel, Phil can’t help but worry about what he’ll see when he reaches the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one day lets gooo
> 
> (This trend will definitely not continue, I just already had this written out and wanted to post it. Don't expect too much from me)
> 
> I hope you enjoyed! Please comment your thoughts if you have any! I've gotten two comments so far on the last chapter and that fueled me with enough serotonin to last me a LIFETIME let me tell ya


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay before we get into this... Why the fuck are there so many of you? Like where did y'all come from??? it's been 3 days and there's been over 1000 hits and 300 kudos like... What??? Thank you so much??
> 
> Also! Lotsa new tags have been added. Please look over those. I don't think there's anything too shocking in there, but just in case, please read through! 
> 
> Also also! Because a lot of new characters have been added, if it comes out that one of those content creators isn't comfortable with fanfic being written about them, they will be IMMEDIATELY retconned from the story (Or if they are important to the story, I'll probably just delete the fic all together). I don't want to cross anyone's boundaries.
> 
> Anyways. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. It's not my favorite, but I didn't want to rewrite it, so here ya go!

About halfway down the tunnel, Tommy and Tubbo lead Phil into a room with dark oak floors in a sort of hallway that branches off into larger rooms, with stone brick and smooth stone walls.

The first room has dark oak stairs leading down, where there are cots and sleeping bags crammed together, obviously recent additions to the space, and an enchantment table surrounded by bookshelves in the middle in a sort of divot, which definitely looks a bit more permanent.

Just as Phil takes in the space, a woman with long brown hair, in a torn and bloodied sweater and denim overalls with a nasty looking scar across her temple and bandages all over her left arm and hand comes storming towards them. She looks pissed. Phil can't help but feel just a bit scared of her.

“Tommy! What were you doing? You said you’d be back in half an hour. Are you okay? Are you hur-” she cuts herself off- similar to how Tubbo did before- when she sees Phil. She eyes the sword on his hip suspiciously, before looking at Tommy and Tubbo, waiting for an explanation.

“He’s my dad, Niki. He’s not gonna hurt us.” Tommy smiles slightly and glances back at Phil.

“Dad, this is Niki. She’s pretty much been keeping everything running for the past couple days.” He looks back to Niki.

“Niki, this is my dad, Phil. He brought medicine and food. He wants to help.” Phil can see him shifting from one foot to the other nervously. It reminds him of when the boy would get reprimanded for breaking something as a child.

_He really isn’t a child anymore, is he? He at least doesn’t act it._

Niki looks at Phil and smiles, effectively pulling him out of his thoughts. “It’s nice to meet you. Any help is really, really appreciated. Where’s the stuff Tommy mentioned?” Phil nods to Tubbo, who shrugs the bag off his shoulder and hands it to Niki, who looks through it, before smiling back at Phil after a moment.

“This is all incredible. I think we’ve been needing more stuff for healing potions and such. Not that we had that much to begin with.” Niki puts the bag over her shoulder, before looking at the boys again, a stern expression taking over her features.

“You two need to go rest. Both of you have been awake all night. Have Bad check your bandages, and get them changed.” The boys grumble, and Tommy even has the audacity to look at Phil, seemingly for help. All the man does is shrug and nod towards the stairs, and the boys quickly go down them, assumedly to go talk to whoever “Bad” is.

The adults watch the boys go before Niki looks back at Phil. “Thank you for coming, really. These resources will help a lot.” She smiles slightly. “And I can tell Tommy is happy you’re here too. Even with Tubbo around, he hasn’t been in such high spirits since… honestly, since before he and Wil got banished. At least from the little bit that I’ve seen of him.”

Phil nods. “He’s much more mature than when I last saw him.” He glances at Niki, his expression shifts to one much more downcast than the small smile he had worn previously, and he feels his wings droop a bit. “He’s been through hell, hasn’t he?”

Niki takes a breath, before nodding slightly. “He hasn’t been alone, but yeah. I wasn’t here for the war for L’Manbergs independence, but from what I hear it was horrific. And all that along with everything that’s happened since Schlatt was elected…” She trails off for a moment, seeming almost scared to finish her sentence, before taking a shaky breath. “They’ve all been through hell.”

Phil nods again, blinking back tears. _You should’ve been there to help them you could’ve stopped all this you could’ve kept them safe you should’ve been there-_

“Phil? Phil are you okay?” Phil snaps back to reality, staring wide-eyed at Niki.

“What? Sorry, I zoned out.” Phil takes another few breaths, trying to calm his mind. Niki smiles sympathetically.

“I was just wondering if you wanted a tour. It’s not much, but if you’re staying you’ll want to know it pretty well.” Phil nods. A tour would be important. Niki smiles.

“Well, this is where most of us are sleeping. It used to be an enchanting room, and I think Tubbo had plans to make it into a big library. But for now, it’s basically just a big bedroom.” She chuckles slightly. “It’s really not all that interesting.”

She turns around and walks into the next room, where there’s the small farm Tommy mentioned on the left, a row of brewing stands on the right, and some stairs leading up to what Phil assumes is a storage area from the chests he can see on the walls. The farm really isn’t much, there’s just enough space to grow some nether wart, melons, carrots, and sugar cane, with some glowstone hanging over it all to help it grow without any sunlight.

'I guess one good thing about growing things underground is you don’t have to worry too much about the season'

2 people are sitting around the room. First, a half fox, half-human hybrid who Phil recognized as Fundy from his sons’ letters, who’s sitting on the floor in front of the brewing stand with his nose buried in a book that looks like it’s about potions. He has bloody bandages wrapped around his chest and right arm, and Phil can make out a nasty burn scar under his shirt that travels from his left shoulder to his neck, and assumedly to his abdomen as well.

Second, a man with slightly tanned skin, dark green hair, and a creeper mask over the upper half of his face. He looks half asleep, kneeling over the carrots in the farm, not picking any, just staring into space. He has bandages wrapped around almost the entirety of his left leg.

Both men look like hell.

Niki walks further into the room, while Phil stays at the doorway, and looks down at Fundy, nudging him with her boot. The man looks up at her, startled, and sits up just slightly straighter.

“Yeah? What is it?” He sounds tired.

Niki sets the bag at his feet. “There’s potion-making materials and food in that. Eat and then see what you can do with what we’ve got.” She sounds a lot more detached than she had the entirety of the time he had been talking to her before.

Fundy nods and immediately starts digging through the bag, pulling out one of the pork chops and eating it in almost one bite.

The man with the creeper mask tries to stand and walk over to Fundy, but Niki puts a hand on his shoulder and hands him a pork chop of his own.

“What do you think you’re doing trying to walk on that?” She gestures to his leg. He shrugs.

“Going to see the potion supplies?” He sounds like a kid caught in a lie. Niki just shakes her head.

“Sam. Eat, and then go get some rest. You’re barely awake as is.” He opens his mouth, Phil assumes to argue, but a yawn comes out instead. Niki smirks and raises an eyebrow at him, and he just averts his eyes to the ground, mumbling a quick “fine”, before digging into his food.

Niki turns back to Phil with a small smile. “This is where we do a lot of potion making and such. We don’t have much in the way of resources, but we’re making do with what we do have.” Phil nods and looks at the men in the room.

“If you need any help with the farm, or you need someone to take over on the brewing for a bit, just let me know.” He smiles slightly and gets a tired nod from Sam, and a small “thanks” from Fundy.

Niki turns back around and takes Phil up the stairs where four chests are lining the walls. There’s a small loft over the potion room where there's an ender chest, two armor stands with gold and iron armor, a jukebox, a furnace, a smoker, a blast furnace, an anvil, and a crafting table. Phil takes his sword, bow, and quiver off of him and puts them in the ender chest.

“This is basically just our storage room. We don’t have anything of too much actual use to store, but it’s still here.” The two just stand there for a moment, Phil taking in all the information from the tour, and Niki just letting him, staring off into space a bit. After a minute or two of comfortable silence, Niki seems to snap out of her thoughts.

“We should probably go back and join the group. I’m sure you’re tired and I need to make sure Tommy and Tubbo are actually resting.” Phil smiles, and nods.

“We can go back, but I feel fine." He ignores how much his shoulders and wings ache. "You can rest if you need to. I’m sure you’re tired as well.” He gives her a knowing look.

Niki rolls her eyes “I’m fine. People need my help so I’m helping.”

“Well, you could help more if you were well-rested. You’re injured too, you need to take care of yourself as well.”

Niki takes a breath and crosses her arms. “If I say no, are you going to keep bothering me?”

“Absolutely.”

Niki groans, but a small smile plays on her lips. “Fine. But don’t think I’m happy about it.”

Phil grins. “Don’t have to be happy about it. I’ve been told I treat everyone like my kid, so why not start acting like everyone’s father?”

“Let’s just go then.” Niki rolls her eyes and they make their way downstairs. Sam has already left the room, presumedly to get some rest, and Fundy is digging around in one of the chests, taking out bottles and small bags of ingredients. He smiles at Phil and Niki as they pass, but Niki doesn’t smile back, which, from what Phil has caught on to about Niki so far, is strange, but he doesn’t mention it.

They walk into the main room, and Niki gives one last glance to Phil before walking down the stairs into the lower level, making quiet conversation with someone else already there as she does.

Phil looks around for a moment before opting to just sit against the wall, and think about the past day.

He has a bad feeling it’s only going to get worse from here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!! Thank you so much for reading. Like I said, I'm not super proud of this chapter, but I wanted to get it done and out of the way so I could move on to more plot-relevant stuff in the next couple chapters. I hope you enjoyed anyways though! Also please comment if you liked this, I read and reply to every comment and they absolutely FUEL my motivation. 
> 
> Also since there's so many of yall, here's my Twitter. The majority of what I post/interact with is MCYT related
> 
> https://twitter.com/Gaywitchbastard
> 
> I'm trying to be more active, so follow if you like! Or don't, you do you. 
> 
> Have a lovely day everyone!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! It's been a minute! Sorry about that, I was trying to get this chapter done, but it was fighting me a bit and that along with school and such I didn't have as much time as I would've liked to write every day. 
> 
> Fair warning, the "Graphic Depictions of Violence" tag comes in a bit more this chapter. I don't think it's anything too bad, but I'm also bad a gauging that sort of stuff so be safe! Please don't risk triggering yourself reading this, my writing's not worth that.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you all enjoy! Feel free to comment, I try to reply to everyone!

Phil stays up for the next few hours just thinking. There are some other people awake, going from room to room, doing various things, but no one bothers him too much. Phil half wishes they would, because his thoughts are way too scrambled at the moment to help him figure things out much.

He’s still beyond confused by why the hell Wilbur’s done this. He’s still frustrated that Techno had shot a 16 year old who was _on his side._ He’s still worried about Tommy because he’s obviously been through so much that Phil hasn’t been there to help with.

As he’s doing more mental gymnastics, his mind reeling, someone sits down next to him. He jumps and looks at the person. They’ve got brown, blood matted hair, a torn T-shirt and pants with bandages visible under, a small bag slung over their shoulder, and they wear a red, torn, regal looking cape draped over their shoulders. It reminds Phil of Techno's cape, but he shoves that thought away. Now's not the time. The person is staring straight ahead, or at least Phil assumes so. They’ve got new-ish looking bandages covering their eyes, and they’re paying no mind to Phil.

Phil clears his throat, making the mystery person jump slightly, looking in Phil’s general direction. 

“Can I help you with something?” Phil asks the person carefully. 

They take a breath, before replying in a voice much deeper than Phil was expecting. “No, sorry, I just didn’t realize someone was sitting here. I’ll go if you want me to.”

Phil shakes his head, before realizing they can’t see him and mentally kicking himself and responding. “No need, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I’m Phil.” The person smiles slightly

“Eret. Pleasure to meet you.” They extend a hand, which Phil shakes, despite his mind starting to spin. 

He had gotten a letter not too long before the war for independence ended. Eret had betrayed L’Manberg, had helped Dream and his men kill everyone and set back any progress his sons had made by weeks. 

Phil had almost come to L’Manberg then and there after he received it.

But, Eret doesn’t seem particularly cruel, at least not now. And if they’re allowed to stay here, maybe they’re a better person now?

Or maybe they just don't want to risk kicking them out.

Phil takes a breath and clears his thoughts. “Likewise.”

The two sit in silence for a bit longer, before Eret rifles around in their bag, and pulls out a piece of what looks like porkchop wrapped in paper and some bread. They unwrap the pork and tear a piece off, offering it to Phil, which he accepts, only just then realizing how hungry he is.

“Thank you.”

“No problem,” another beat of silence, “So you’re Tommy’s dad, then?” They take a bite of their porkchop

“Yep. How’d you know?” Phil takes a bite of his own food.

Eret chuckles, sounding almost sad. “Anytime Wilbur gave him a hard time, he’d threaten to write to you. I don’t know if he ever actually did, but it became a joke with us. Everyone except those two, at least. They avoided getting in trouble with you like getting withered.” 

Phil laughs. He had received a few quickly written and obviously joking letters about Wilbur treating Tommy like a kid, or Tommy hiding Wilbur’s guitar. Even miles away, they still managed to complain about each other to him.

“As they should be. I’m told I’m a bit scary when I’m angry.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Eret responds with a laugh, taking another bite of their food.

After another bout of silence, Eret hisses and brings a hand to their eyes, holding their head in their hands for a moment before taking a shaky breath and looking up. 

Phil sits up, wings ruffling and fatherly instinct taking over almost instantly. “Are you okay?” 

Eret replies with a small pained chuckle. “Depends on your definition of the word.” They take another breath and start slowly unwrapping the bandages around their eyes, which Phil notices with slight alarm has fresh blood on it on the inner layers. 

“Would you go get some more bandages for me please?” Eret glances towards Phil, and immediately he stands and goes to find some. When he gets back, Eret is facing away from him, the bloodied bandages balled up on the ground next to them. 

Eret, assumedly hearing Phil’s footsteps, slowly turns around to face Phil. 

He gasps, and almost drops the bandages. 

Eret has small cuts and gashes all over their eyelids, their eyes, practically everywhere on that part of their face. There are even some cuts (albeit less serious-looking), on their forehead and across their eyebrows.

Eret gives a small, sad smile. “I wore sunglasses constantly before the explosion. My eyes were always paper white and I didn’t like the attention. Made people scared of me.” They take a shaky breath. “The glass got blown into my eyes in the explosion.” 

Phil sighs, trying to push down some of the bile rising in his throat. Wilbur did that. His son did that.

“I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.” There’s a moment of slightly uncomfortable silence, before Eret looks towards Phil. 

“Would you help me with the bandages? If you don’t want to I can get-”

“I’ve got it, no worries.” He sits down in front of Eret and carefully wraps their wounds.

When he’s finished, the pair just lean back against the wall and try to relax. Eret finishes the rest of their porkchop and starts working on their bread, but not before offering some more to Phil, who declines. He doesn’t have much of an appetite at the moment. 

After a bit longer, Niki comes up the stairs, looking much more rested than when Phil last saw her. She smiles at the two and sits across from them, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes. 

Eret tears a piece of their bread off and offers it to her. “Afternoon, Niki. How’re you?” 

She takes the bread yawns. “Ask me again when I’m conscious.” She takes a bite of the bread and pulls her knees to her chest, resting her chin on them.

Slowly but surely, the bunker becomes more and more alive. Phil meets Bad, Antfrost, and HBomb, all of whom have various wounds and scars from the past few days, and are happy that Phil is there to help. Bad might chastise him for his use of language once or twice, but that’s beside the point.

Soon, the only people who are yet to join the group are Tommy and Tubbo. Everyone else is up, eating or checking others' wounds or tending to the farm or making potions, but they all silently and unanimously decide that the boys deserve a break, so they let them rest. 

An hour or so passes in relative calm. 

At around 3 or 4, at least according to the clock hanging on the wall, Phil is helping Sam and HBomb with the farm. Everyone in the bunker is joking and talking with each other, telling stories from before everything went to hell and poking fun at each other. It would feel almost normal if the circumstances weren’t silently looming over everyone’s heads.

Phil’s about to tell Sam to go rest some more, his leg is obviously bothering him, when, cutting through the playful energy of the bunker like a hot knife through butter, there’s a blood-curdling shriek from the main room. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger Pog?
> 
> Cliffhanger Pog.
> 
> For real though, I'm sorry about that. I was planning on making this chapter longer and not leaving yall on a cliffhanger, but this one already was long enough and I just wanted to get some content out for yall. 
> 
> My twitter's https://twitter.com/Gaywitchbastard come hang out if you want! Or don't, your choice
> 
> Thanks again for reading! Seriously, the support I've gotten on this fic has been incredible, and I probably would've stopped a while ago if you all weren't so friggin supportive to me.


	5. Suggestions?

Hey everyone!! I'm back(ish)

I'm in the process of writing chapter 5 right now, and even though I've been fighting with it for a bit, I think I'm starting to get some motivation back, which is awesome!

I wanna thank you all for all the kind comments you left on the last chapter, I took screenshots of every single one before rewriting this chapter so I'd be able to look back on all your kind words if I needed the pick me up in the future!

I also wanna apologize for not responding to all of those. I didn't respond at first because I genuinely just couldn't muster up the motivation to do even that, but then after so many lovely comments, I just didn't want to respond to everyone the same 3 ways and get repetitive, and make it seem like I'm not incredibly greatful (which I am, seriously. Thank you so so so much)

Now, to what this little update is really about. I wanna hear y'alls thoughts on ideas for the future! It could be angsty, it could be conversation ideas or writing prompts you think might fit into the story, anything! I just could use some ideas, because as previously stated in this story, I don't really have a set outline, which is part of why it's been so difficult to write this next chapter. It's hard to write when you don't know where you're going to end up with it.

So yeah! Please reply to this with ANYTHING you might wanna see me write into this story or heck, give me songs you listen to that remind you of the DreamSMP/SBI! Give me your favorite fanfictions with similar vibes to this one! Anything that can give me some more ideas is beyond appreciated!

I can't promise I'll use your idea, but I can promise that if I do, I'll make note of it and be sure to put you in the notes after the chapter.

Thank you all in advance, and thanks again so much for your kind words on the Authors Note and for your patience.

Have an incredible day/night!!!!

Maggie <3

PS. Adding this after I originally posted it like 5 min ago cause I only just noticed this but HOLY CRAP!!! 10,000 HITS???? Are you all INSANE??? Thank you so so so so much for being here and reading my story!!! It really means the absolute world to me!!!!


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!!! I'm back!!
> 
> Thank you all again so so much for your patience with me while I was taking a break, and for all of your incredible comments on the last chapter! I'm gonna keep that one up and leave it there so if anyone new comes around, or if any of you have any ideas for something you want to be in a future chapter or anything like that, you can put it there!
> 
> Now, before we get into the chapter, there's a few things I wanna say.
> 
> 1\. This chapter is not from Phil's perspective. I'm sorry! I promise I'll be going back to him after this chapter, but for some reason I could not force myself to write him for this chapter. So instead, you're getting a chapter with 3 different POV's! If anything is confusing, please let me know in the comments and I will do my very best to clear things up by replying or edit this chapter, whichever is easiest.  
> 2\. GO READ LeadenSparrow's fic The One's Who Survived! They were inspired by this fic, and there's only one chapter so far when I'm publishing this, but oh my gosh it's so good. Reading that one chapter gave me enough motivation to help me finish writing this chapter. That being said, if any of you wanna write fics at all inspired by this one, PLEASE let me know somehow, whether you "gift" it, or you just leave a comment on this fic saying you wrote it, whatever. Knowing I can inspire you all even the littlest bit is absolutely incredible!
> 
> Okay, long rant over! Enjoy this (slightly filler) chapter!!

Tubbo woke up slowly. He doesn’t remember the last time he woke up in anything other than a panic, sweating or crying or screaming. It was a nice change, from rushing awake, unknowing of the world around him, just knowing that he’s scared and in pain, to slowly becoming aware of the room around him, of the warmth of the blankets wrapping him up, of the quiet talking and laughter from the next room over.

As Tubbo sits up, mind slightly foggy -probably from the health potion he drank earlier- he’s vaguely aware of the wounds on his torso hurting, of bandages wrapped around his chest, making it hard to get in a full breath, of a slight ringing in his ears from the explosions, but that doesn’t matter right now. He’s safe. For the first time in days, hell, in months, he’s safe. 

He lets out a content sigh, and glances to his right, seeing Tommy’s cot pushed up against his, the blond fast asleep next to him. It feels weird, seeing him so at peace right now. Tubbo doesn’t remember the last time he saw Tommy sleeping contently, he’s always been tossing and turning, or always looking a second from bolting awake at the slightest sound.

It’s not normal, not in the slightest. The messy suit he’s wearing, the underground bunker, the slight fuzzy feeling in Tubbo’s mind, it all makes it obvious that this isn’t normal. Tubbo doesn’t think anything will ever really be normal again. 

But that’s okay. He’ll make it through. With Tommy and Niki and Eret and everyone else. They’ll make it through.

Tubbo hears footsteps behind him, quietly descending the stairs. Probably just someone coming to check on him and Tommy.

He turns around with a yawn, hoping to see Niki’s calm smile, or Eret’s confident grin, or even Fundy’s nervous fidgeting.

(He’s been so nervous recently, but Tubbo can’t blame him. Everyone thought he was a traitor until he showed them his diary. People had threatened him over it, in whispers and dark corners, as recently as the day of the Festival, only hours before this all happened. A few people, mostly Niki, still didn't seem quite sure about what to think of the man). 

So Tubbo turns around, expecting a friendly face. But the face he’s met with isn’t Niki’s, or Eret’s, or Fundy’s. 

It’s smiling and bright white and it’s haunted his nightmares for nearly a year.

Tubbo screams.

~o~

Tommy went to sleep slightly annoyed that he was being sent to bed like a child, which he _wasn’t,_ thank you very fucking much. 

He had also gone to sleep a bit grateful, though. Because holy shit he was tired. He was exhausted and his side hurt whenever he took a breath and he was so _happy_ that his dad was there. Because that meant things _had_ to get better.

Wilbur had gone crazy, Techno was bloodthirsty. Two of the very people who he would’ve trusted with his life a year ago had killed him, killed his friends. Techno had shot Tubbo! 

Tommy wasn’t stupid or naive, he knew that Phil being there wouldn’t magically fix everything. But he’s tired, and in pain, and so done with fighting and wars and everything. He’d much rather just sit on his bench with his friend and listen to a music disc and watch the sunset.

So excuse him if he was going to allow himself to be optimistic for once since he was exiled.

Tommy went to sleep annoyed and grateful and unsure, and above all else, hearing Tubbo’s slow, level breathing in the cot next to him, Tommy fell asleep feeling at least a tiny bit _safe._

Tommy wakes up to screams.

~o~

Dream fucked up.

He fucked up so bad.

Don’t get him wrong, he loves the chaos. He loves the power he has over people, and a part of keeping that power is keeping his enemies weak. That’s just the way of the world. If he can cause a bit of chaos while doing that, he may as well just grab the popcorn.

But holy _fuck_ , when he gave Wilbur a stack of TNT, he really wasn’t expecting him to go and get more. Especially not another _ten and a half_ _stacks_. He expected him to use the stack that Dream gave him, cause a little chaos, and weaken Pogtopia and Manburg. 

He wasn’t expecting him to blow Manburg off the _map._

So yeah. Dream fucked up. And he absolutely underestimated Wilburs insanity.

And that’s why, even after the shock factor had worn off, when he saw the survivors of the explosion rushing to Tubbo’s bunker under the lake, he didn’t stop them. He drank an invisibility potion and did what he could to keep Wilbur and Techno and Schlatt and anyone who would consider hurting them _away_ without implicating himself too much.

That’s why he purposefully made sure Schlatt thought the group was all the way back in Pogtopia, that it’d be better to wait until he and his friends were stronger to go and get them, and squash the rebellion the goat-hybrid was convinced they had formed, since they were so far away.

And that's why he’s walking down the crimson wood and cobblestone stairs to the bunker where he’s sure the survivors are staying, porcelain mask over his face, a bag full of potions and weapons, and anything, _anything_ he could think of to help them.

Because as much as he might hate to admit it, as much as things had changed over the past year, Dream likes to think he still has honor.

He doesn’t want Manburg, or Pogtopia, or anything other than DreamSMP, no. That diminishes his power. 

But at the very least he wants to give them a fighting chance. Not because he _cares_ , or because he feels _bad,_ no way in hell. It’s just more fun to fight someone who’s able to fight back.

Yeah. That’s why he’s doing this.

Dream only shakes himself out of his thoughts when he realizes he’s reached the bunker. He stands at the edge of the doorway, not looking in just yet, just waiting and listening, making sure no one will see him. He still has a reputation to uphold here, and he doesn’t necessarily want to ally with these people. Just wants to give them a fair fight.

They deserve at least that much.

There are hushed voices further into the bunker. That’s good, they probably wouldn’t see him right away if he’s fast enough. 

Dream quickly turns the corner and goes nearly silently down the dark oak stairs. He takes the bag off of his shoulder as he does, planning on just setting it down there and being in and out before anyone can notice him.

As he reaches the ground level, he trips on a particularly large crack in the cobblestone floor. 

He reaches out for something to grab, not even noticing the fact that he’s reaching towards a brunette with bandages and blood and scars covering him who’s sitting up in a cot until it’s too late, and fuck _fuck fuck that’s a person shit._

He touches the boy’s shoulder.

Tubbo turns around and meets his eyes (or, the eyes of his mask).

He screams, and holy shit, Dream fucked up.


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Remember how I said I was back last time? Heh. Sorry about that. Mental health has been kicking my ass and motivation has been nonexistent.
> 
> I'm still writing though! Albeit not as much as I'd like. 
> 
> So anyways, some important notes!   
> 1\. Phil now has wings! I've gone back in the chapters and added little bits and pieces so that they don't just show up out of nowhere in this chapter. I also might go and add them to the Ender Chest Incident after I publish this if there's anywhere it fits.  
> 2\. I'm not super happy with this chapter, but that seems to be a bit of a theme at this point. I wanted to get it out to you all though, and try to keep you all from waiting for too long before the next update.   
> 3\. Unrelated to this fic, but I have a oneshot work on here that I'm gonna be adding to pretty soon (hopefully in the next few days). It's MCYT related and I don't have any oneshots posted, but if you have any ideas for some you want to see me write feel free to go on over and give it a look!
> 
> Alright, with all that out of the way, I hope you all enjoy Chaper 6!

Phil doesn’t remember getting up. He doesn’t remember running into the next room. He just remembers flinging the person who’s hand is on Tubbo's shoulder against the wall and pinning him there, reaching for a sword at his hip that isn’t there as his feathers ruffle. 

He stares up at a blank, smiling face. Dream. 

Out of his periphery, he sees Eret and Niki behind him, practically dragging Tommy and Tubbo out of their beds and away from the masked man in front of him. Tubbo looks fucking terrified, and Tommy does too, but his fear covered by a thin veil of rage that Phil doesn’t think he’s ever seen on the boy before.

“What the  _ hell _ do you think you’re doing here?” Phil doesn’t scream -he doesn’t think he’s ever raised his voice fully, at least not directly at someone before- but he does infuse as much malice and hatred into his words as he can, which really isn’t that hard. 

Everyone in the bunker seems to hold their breath. Phil is entirely too aware of the netherite sword at Dream’s hip, gleaming with enchantments, and he spreads his wings slightly, trying to shield the others behind him.

Dream doesn’t speak, just shrugs his satchel off his shoulder and holds it out to Phil.

“What’s in it?” Phil takes a small step back, and he can hear everyone behind him do the same. He can practically feel the anger and fear in the room, waiting to see what the masked man will say.

“Food, medicine, potions. Not much.” He sounds so casual. As if he isn’t in a room filled with people who he’s killed, injured, and terrorized. It’s wrong.

“Why the hell would you give us anything?” Niki’s voice is quiet and full of venom as she ducks under Phil’s wing and seems to materialize next to him, anger evident in her voice and radiating off of her. Her fists are clenched at her side. 

Phil places a hand on her shoulder, trying to provide some semblance of comfort, but doesn’t take his eyes off of Dream.

“You need it. An unfair fight is boring.” He takes a breath, seeming to consider his next words carefully. 

“Besides, uh, I’m pretty sure Schlatt saw you fly in here,” He nods towards Phil, “pretty hard to miss. Wingfolk aren’t exactly common around here. Figured I’d give you something to make things a bit more difficult for them.”

Phil feels his heart drop. Of course they would’ve seen him. In his rush, he wasn’t exactly inconspicuous, especially since he landed in the center of the damage. 

“Why are you telling us this? Why not just let them come and take us out?” Eret speaks up from behind him, holding Tubbo close to their side. He feels Niki flinch from beside him at the thought of being “taken out”.

“Like I said, an unfair fight is boring. And if I want Manburg to be weaker, I may as well give you the opportunity to do that. Make things easier for me.” Dream says casually, before reaching into a pouch strapped to his belt and pulling out a blueish-green ender pearl.

Phil tries to reach out and grab him. He has so many more questions, and at least a few punches he wants to land before the masked man leaves, but Dream throws the pearl, gives a small wave, and he’s gone, quick footsteps echoing in the tunnel, back up the stairs.

The tension in the room holds for another few seconds, before Phil hears a sob from behind him, and turns around to see Tommy with a hand covering his mouth, furiously rubbing at his eyes. 

Phil is next to his son without a second thought, bringing him into his arms and soothing him as best he can, enveloping them both with his wings, and running a hand through his far too messy hair while rubbing circles into his back. He’s vaguely aware of Eret in a similar situation with a terrified Tubbo, somewhere next to him, but all that matters at that moment is his son. 

He’s struck as he comforts Tommy by just how much the boys had been through in the past year, not even that. The wars and fighting and betrayals and anger that Phil wasn’t there for, wasn't there to help them through. 

Guilt gnaws at Phil as he realizes that he could’ve been here. He could’ve dropped everything and come at the first breath of the word ‘war’ and whisked his boys back home. Could have taken some of the others with them, the children and young adults who had seen far too much far too soon and brought them home. Renovated the house, added rooms, or simply moved beds and cots around to give them places to stay until they were on their feet.

He could have  _ helped. _ The realization, paired with the fact that he _didn't_ , makes him nauseous.

Eventually, Tommy calms down, sobs turning to whimpers, hiccups and gasps turning slowly to calming breaths. Phil carefully releases his hold and looks back around, realizing that most of the people have left the room, leaving only himself, Eret, Tommy, and Tubbo.

Somehow, the four of them end up sitting on cots and leaning against the wall, Tommy and Tubbo next to each other and holding the other’s hand like a lifeline, sandwiched between Phil and Eret, the elders on the other side of their respective son/brother. 

Phil falls into a restless sleep there, a wing draped over the other’s backs, silently terrified for what he might wake up to.

~o~

Phil wakes up to hear quiet chatter around him, which stops as soon as he stirs.

“Welcome to the land of the living,” Fundy says sarcastically wearing a small smile, handing him a cup of water.

He takes it happily and drinks a few sips. He hadn’t realized until now, but he hadn’t had water since he got here, and gods is he parched.

He takes a look around the room while stretching his wings, opening them to their full length before folding them not quite fully against his back. Sitting in a sort of circle around him is Niki, Fundy, Bad and Sam. He can hear Tommy and Tubbo in the next room with HBomb and Eret, probably helping with the farm or potion-making, and Ant is asleep on a cot a couple yards away, the cat hybrid’s ears and tail twitching every now and again. 

Phil wonders for a moment how much sleep he must have needed for all three of the people he had his wing over to have left and not woken him up, before smiling at the group. “What were you talking about before I woke up? I heard talking.” He stretches the rest of his body a bit, rolling his shoulders and head, joints in his neck and back popping. 

“Just about what we should do about the, uh,  _ housing situation _ .” Niki says carefully, gesturing to the bunker. 

“It’s good temporarily, but if Dream found us so quickly, I don’t want to think about what someone with worse intentions would do.” Fundy pipes up, running a nervous hand through his orange hair. 

Phil nods. It was true. Dream found them easily, and if the place is connected to where Wil and Techno are staying, as he’s been told, it’s definitely not safe long term. He wonders for a moment when he started to accept just how dangerous his sons were. When he went from mortified that his sons would do such a thing to just. Accepting it. He resolves that once the others are safe, he’ll follow this tunnel wherever it leads to find his sons. 

No matter what they’ve done, they’re still family. Phil won’t let himself stop thinking of them as such.

He snaps himself out of his thoughts, and sighs. “I’d offer to take you all back to my home, but it’s only really big enough for me and my sons, and, more importantly, with all of you as injured as you are, it could take more than a week in the wilderness before we got there. I only managed to get here so quickly because I can fly, I was using swiftness potions, and even then I was pushing myself a bit."

Everyone seems to deflate slightly, and Phil realizes that that had probably been the group's best bet at somewhere safe, and silently wonders if there was a way he could get them there faster. He could always take them after everyone was more healthy? But that would be weeks, and they didn’t have that kind of time, at least not in their cramped bunker.

There’s quiet for a moment, everyone lost in thought, before Sam snaps his fingers and looks at the group.

“Eret’s castle. It’s a bit of a walk, and it’s a bit in the open to get there, but if you go at night and take the long way- off of the Prime Path- you could probably make it there by dawn.”

Phil nods, before noticing something the man said and he furrows his eyebrows, glancing at Sam. “What do you mean ‘if  _ you _ go at night’? Wouldn’t you be coming as well?” 

Sam and Bad glance at each other. “Not exactly. We’re happy to help out here every now and then, but this isn’t really our fight.” Same gestures to himself, Bad, and Ant. 

“We obviously stand with you,” Bad says hastily, “but we’re still officially neutral in all of this. And we’d want to keep it that way, for our own safety. We aren’t Manburgian or anything, if we can stay out of the crossfire we want to. Besides, we can always stay here and keep an eye out. Send a message to someone over coms if Schlatt or someone starts heading towards you all.” 

Niki lets out a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Okay. So we, meaning myself, Phil, Eret, Fundy, Tommy, Tubbo, and H, all go to Eret’s castle? Tonight?” She looks at the others in the group. Fundy nods, and Phil does as well, and Niki stands up. “I’ll go ask the others then, see what their thoughts are.”

She goes up the stairs just as Ant starts to stir. He looks around blearily, and yawns. 

Bad chuckles. “Morning, sleepyhead.” Ant swats at him with sharpened nails, but doesn’t do any real damage. Everyone starts small conversations, talking about nothing and everything as they wait for the verdict from the people in the next room, giving Phil a chance to learn a bit more about the people on the SMP. 

Schlatt, George, and Quackity have been in power since the election, but before that, Schlatt had been banned from entering SMP territory. No one really seemed to know why, just that they had woken up one day and he was gone, no explanation from anyone, least of all Dream.

He learns that there was another boy on the server, Purpled, another Wingfolk around Tommy and Tubbo’s age, who stays largely out of anything involving war, who no one is really close enough with to have heard anything from since the explosion. He had been present, along with other citizens like Ponk, Punz, (Phil realized that there were a lot of ‘P’ names in this area) and Callahan, at the Festival, but no one had heard a word from any of the four. Considering they weren’t in the bunker, it was really a 50/50 chance, but everyone agreed that they were probably fine.

He learns that Niki has a sibling, a little brother named Ranboo, who, like Phil’s sons, isn’t biologically related to her, who was planning on visiting sometime soon before the explosion, and Niki had promised could as soon as it was safe. He’s an enderman hybrid, and seemed very interested in the goings on in the SMP, if Niki’s stories were anything to go off of. 

He learns that Bad has a friend, Skeppy, who was lucky enough to have been out collecting resources for a build him and Bad were planning the day of the Festival. He was, apparently, a part of the reason Bad didn’t want to go with the others to Eret’s castle. He had a best friend to check on as soon as possible.

Soon, after a bit more talking, Fundy, Eret, HBomb, Tommy, and Tubbo appear at the top of the stairs, slowly making their way down, having to wait for HBomb, who has an injured leg, and Eret, who needs a bit more time to get their footing since they can’t see the stairs. 

Eventually, they make their way down, and the five all take seats on the floor or on cots, adding to the circle-blob the group made. 

“Okay. So Everyone agrees that we should head over to Eret’s castle tonight. Set our spawns here before we leave, and then just book it and try and get there before dawn, yeah?” Fundy speaks up first, fiddling with the brim of his torn black hat as he talks. Everyone nods, and Eret speaks up.

“We’ll get our things packed up now, make sure we have everything ready, and then once night falls we can make our way over. I’d say I could lead you all there, but I’m afraid I might have to rely on some of the others.” He gives a small chuckle. Everyone nods again, and Tubbo gives a small hum of agreement. 

Phil takes a breath and stands up, joints in his legs popping and raising his arms above his head, stretching more, before looking to the others in their small circle. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get packing.” He gives the group a reassuring smile, and with that, they’re off in a flurry of movement, packing as much as they can fit in their bags, even Bad, Sam, and Ant helping where they can.

Phil can’t help but think grimly about the possibility that it might not matter.

If they do this poorly, they could all be imprisoned or worse before dawn.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks again for reading! Any comments are greatly appreciated! Come yell at me on my twitter if you like! @GayWitchBastard


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